Parc de Bercy is a group of three connected gardens in the 12th arrondissement of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. With a combined area of some 14 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s, it is one of the most important parks in the city. The park is serviced by Bercy

Bercy (Paris Metro)

Bercy is a station of the Paris Métro, serving lines 6 and 14 at the intersection of the Boulevard de Bercy and the Rue de Bercy in the neighbourhood of Bercy and the 12th arrondissement.-History:...

 and Cour Saint-Émilion

Cour Saint-Émilion (Paris Metro)

Cour Saint-Émilion is a station of the Paris Métro, located on the Line 14, which opened in 1998.It is named after the French wine Saint-Émilion because it was built at the old railway station of Bercy where wine from south of France arrived in Paris....

 Métro stations.

The three gardens

The park is made up of three gardens designed by architects Bernard Huet, Madeleine Ferrand, Jean-Pierre Feugas, Bernard Leroy, and by landscapers Ian Le Caisne and Philippe Raguin between 1993 and 1997:

• The "Romantic Garden", which includes fishponds and dunes;
• The "Flowerbeds", dedicated to plant life;
• "The Meadows", an area of open lawns shaded by tall trees.

In the north-east of the park stands the Cinémathèque Française

Cinémathèque Française

The Cinémathèque Française holds one of the largest archives of films, movie documents and film-related objects in the world. Located in Paris, the Cinémathèque holds daily screenings of films from around the world.-History:...

 (the former American Center) designed by Frank Gehry

Frank Gehry

Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...

, and on the raised terraces are the 21 sculptures of Rachid Khimoune

Rachid Khimoune

Rachid Khimoune is a French sculptor of Algerian descent born on April 7, 1953 in Decazeville, Aveyron.- Biography :His father came in France in 1946 from El Ksar in Kabylie, Algeria. Between 1970 and 1974, Rachid Khimoune studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Painter...

's "Children of the World" installation, created in 2001 to honour children's rights.

The park is linked directly to the National Library of France by the Simone de Beauvoir footbridge

Passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir

The Passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir is a bridge solely for pedestrians and cyclists across the Seine River in Paris. It is the 37th bridge on the Seine to Paris. It is located between the bridges of Pont de Bercy and Pont de Tolbiac and links up the 12th and 13th arrondissements of Paris...

 over the Seine.

The area used to be an important location for Paris wine warehouses, and some remains of the industry can still be seen in the park.

The Musée des Arts Forains

Musée des Arts Forains

The Musée des Arts Forains - Collection Jean-Paul Favand is a private museum of funfair objects located within the Pavillons de Bercy in the XIIe arrondissement at 53, avenue des Terroirs de France, Paris, France, with temporary exhibition space at 64, rue des Pirogues de Bercy...

 is also located here.

See also

• Bercy
  Bercy
  Bercy is a neighborhood in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. It is the city's 47th administrative neighborhood. -History:Some of the oldest vestiges of human occupation in Paris were found on the territory of Bercy, dating from the late Neolithic . The name of Bercy, or Bercix, appeared for the...